CDC looking into baby's death after flu shot

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is looking into the death of an 11-month-old baby girl after she got a flu shot, an official said Monday.

The girl, from the central city of Taichung, died Oct. 6, one day after she received the flu vaccine.

According to CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw, the CDC will provide the necessary assistance to the victim's family and cooperate with an investigation by judicial authorities into whether the death was caused by the vaccine.

Chou said that since the government began providing free flu vaccines in 1998, 687 possible adverse events following immunization have been reported.

Of these cases, however, only 13 were determined to have been caused by the vaccine, and none of them involved a death, he said.

There have been seven cases of swelling in specific body areas, two cases of cellulitis, two cases of acute allergic reaction, one case of urticaria and one case of rhabdomyolysis, according to Chou.

The data indicates that the flu vaccine is "quite safe," he said.

Since this year's flu inoculation program was launched Oct. 1, six possible adverse events, including the death of the 11-month-old, have been reported.

Meanwhile, Chou said Taiwan has strengthened its quarantine measures at airports and seaports to guard against the incursion of a novel coronavirus that has affected two people in Saudi Arabia.

He advised travelers to the Middle East to take proper protective measures and urged them to seek medical attention immediately and tell their doctors about their travel history should they come down with an upper respiratory illness within 10 days of their return.